The community involvement of courts: an action research study in the context of the Polish justice system

Przemysław Banasik; Sylwia Morawska; Agata Austen

doi:10.1108/srj-09-2020-0367

The community involvement of courts: an action research study in the context of the Polish justice system

Abstract

Purpose – As a rule, common courts are hermetic organizations, separated from their stakeholders by procedures based on legal provisions. For these reasons, they are often perceived as unreliable and non-transparent, and as such, they do not inspire trust among stakeholders. The authors posit that the court’s community involvement may lead to the increased accountability and legitimacy of courts, which should in turn result in jurisprudence benefits. This paper discusses the concept of community involvement of courts, demonstrates how this ideamay be implemented and explains its benefits for courts. Design/methodology/approach – The results of an action research study undertaken between June 2013 and March 2018 at the Regional Court in Gdansk (Poland) are discussed. Findings – The results highlight factors underlying the implementation of the idea of community involvement, as well as the areas in which courts take these actions, and explain how it influences their accountability and legitimacy. This research describes the interests of different stakeholders and proposes a range of actions that may be taken by courts while cooperating with stakeholders to achieve the aims of community involvement. It also proposes a set of steps that enable courts to implement the idea of community involvement. Originality/value – This paper develops the idea of the community involvement of courts, which may be used as an operating rule for public institutions to increase their legitimacy and accountability and explain its introduction in the context of courts. It offers a universal framework for the community involvement of courts that can be used in the context of any court in both the continental and Anglo-Saxon systems.

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Authors (3)

Przemysław Banasik dr hab.
Sylwia Morawska dr hab.
- Szkoła Główna Handlowa
Agata Austen
- Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Katowicach

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DOI:: Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1108/SRJ-09-2020-0367
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Keywords

STAKEHOLDERS, ACTION RESEARCH, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, COURTS, JUSTICE SYSTEM, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

Details

Category:: Articles
Type:: artykuły w czasopismach
Published in:: Social Responsibility Journal no. 18, pages 1209 - 1225,
ISSN: 1747-1117
Language:: English
Publication year:: 2022
Bibliographic description:: Banasik P., Morawska S., Austen A.: The community involvement of courts: an action research study in the context of the Polish justice system// Social Responsibility Journal -Vol. 18,iss. 6 (2022), s.1209-1225
DOI:: Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1108/srj-09-2020-0367
Verified by:: Gdańsk University of Technology